New York Islanders 2017 Lottery Draft Primer

(EDITORS NOTE: caption correction) Jun 24, 2016; Buffalo, NY, USA; Kieffer Bellows puts on a team jersey after being selected as the number nineteen overall draft pick by the New York Islanders in the first round of the 2016 NHL Draft at the First Niagra Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

While the Islanders don’t own a first-round pick in the upcoming lottery draft, things could get interesting — and that’s why you should tune in.

Garth Snow always seems to have something up his sleeves on draft night, and this go-round should be no different. With a plethora of trade rumors and the club’s need to improve both in the present and the future, the Isles could pull off something big on Friday night.

Last time out… The Islanders took Kieffer Bellows (F, Boston University) in the first round of the 2016 entry-level draft. Following a gap between the first and fourth round, the Isles selected two foreign-born skaters: Anatoly Golyshev and Otto Koivula.

Strengths, weaknesses… The Islanders don’t have any glaring needs down on the farm, which makes any pick a safe pick. The forwards (i.e. Matthew Barzal, Joshua Ho-Sang and Anthony Beauvillier), defensemen (i.e. Devon Toews and Ryan Pulock) and goalies (i.e. Linus Söderstrom and Ilya Sorokin) are all in the upper echelon of the league.

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Justin Weiss is a staff editor at Elite Sports New York, where he covers the New York Islanders and Brooklyn Cyclones. In 2016, he received a Quill Award for Freelance Journalism. He has written for the Long Island Herald, FanSided and YardBarker.